June 8, 1981: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very special segment of our program this week,” says Vince McMahon, standing outside the ring. “It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you without a doubt the most phenomenal athlete of all time, here with us, the one and the only André the Giant.”
André emerges on crutches, his hair huge and wooly, his sports jacket checked black and white. “How you doing?”
“Terrific,” replies McMahon. “The question is, how are you doing?”
“I’m feeling very good. In fact, I’ve got good news for you.”
“We can stand some good news. What is it?”
“Tomorrow I’m going back in the hospital to take off my cast,” André says, smiling widely.
“That is really good news. So tomorrow the cast comes off. You obviously, André, have been exercising and things of that nature, have you not, to keep the ligaments loose or whatever?”
“Yeah. In probably four or five more weeks I’ll be back in the ring, maybe before that. The doctor says if everything’s okay, maybe in two weeks.”
“So as soon as the cast comes off then you’re gonna be thinking about stepping back in the squared circle. Let me ask you, André, do you feel, do your doctors or what have you feel, that it’s wise to go back into the ring so soon?”
“We’re going to find out tomorrow after they take off the cast,” the Giant explains. “They going to take some more X-ray and then I’m going to be ready, I think maybe two or three weeks and Freddie Blassie, he better get Killer Khan in shape because I be ready to chase him everywhere.”
“André, I’m sure it’s frustrating for you to be in the hospital and to listen to Fred Blassie—”
Speak of the devil, Blassie emerges from the back. “You’re not invited,” scolds McMahon.
“I don’t care if I’m invited! Why do you got this palooka on here for? What are you asking him for? You see the leg’s broke (pointing with his cane). He’s all through! He’s washed up!”
“What are you talking about, I’m washed up?” André asks, leaning in toward Blassie. “You say I’m not gonna wrestle anymore, well, I give you news, I’m going back in that ring.”
“You’re going back on what?” Blassie rages, as the fans begin hurling debris at him. “You’re all through! This ain’t nothing but a palooka! He’s all through! The man is through!”
The Giant at last has heard enough and swings his crutch at Blassie’s head, sending him back against the ring apron. André loses his balance and falls forward, catching himself on the apron. Vince tries to help him up as Killer Khan runs out, picks up the steel crutch, and smashes it across André’s neck, just barely missing McMahon’s head. André goes down, and Blassie takes a shot at his cast with his cane. Vince stands over the fallen Giant, chasing Blassie off and giving André cover.
The heels run off. André gets to his feet and tears off his sports coat in a rage. Unfortunately, his broken ankle keeps him from following and he leans back against the apron, massaging his neck.
The televised assault on his injured ankle gave André the time he needed to fully heal from his surgery. Finally, after two and a half months, the Giant was ready for action. André returned to face his nemesis with payback on his mind.
July 20, 1981: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
“There may be many wrestlers and many giants,” says the ring announcer as André comes to the ring, “but there is only one giant... ooooh, I’m getting out of here. . . . André the Giant!”
André—in blue tights and red boots—and Khan lock up immediately. André powers him into the corner and is chopping away as the bell rings. A headbutt sends Khan down and rolling out to the floor. Khan holds his head and reels around the concrete, while André calls for him to get back into the ring. Khan gets up on the apron, and André challenges him to meet him right in the center. “Come on.” He gestures, smiling broadly. The ref tries to approach André, but the Giant tells him to get into the corner and stay out of his way. Wisely, the official complies.
Finally, Khan reenters and attempts a kick to André’s chest. His foot gets caught, and André pushes him back against the buckles, laughing as he refuses to relinquish his grip on the Killer’s boot. He twists it and flips Khan over the ropes, holding on to the ankle as Killer dangles upside down. Khan tries to escape André’s grasp by grabbing on to the ropes, but André ties the ankle in between the top two ropes and squeezes. The ref tries to intercede, but André commands him to the other side of the ring.
Khan shakes his head in agony. André kicks the Killer’s trapped boot and releases the ropes, letting Khan tumble off the apron to the cold concrete, where he sells his injured ankle. As Khan tends to his foot, the crowd begins stamping, urging the match to proceed.
Khan limps up onto the apron, rolls under the ropes, and sits back against the buckles, waving his hands in a fruitless bid for mercy. André approaches, and Khan kicks out at his ankle with his uninjured left leg in an attempt to fell the Giant. No such luck—André
Killer Khan goes to
work on André’s ankle.
steps down on Khan’s right boot, and stomps repeatedly on his damaged ankle with his other foot. Again, the ref comes close to break it up, but André sends him into the opposite corner. Still trapping Khan’s foot, he continues to work Killer’s injured ankle. Khan tries to flee through the ropes, but André maintains his hold and keeps stamping away.
André reaches over and puts a facelock on Khan, then chops at his chest. Khan slips back under and leans against the turnbuckle, pleading for André to relent.
André responds by grabbing the top ropes and putting a boot under Khan’s chin, forcing him backward. From the corner of his eye, André sees the ref approaching, and without releasing the pressure on Khan’s neck, he admonishes the ref back to his corner.
Khan is now on all fours, his upper body through the ropes on the apron. André resumes his stomping attack on Killer’s injured ankle, but Khan rolls free to the floor.
“Come on,” André says, waiting patiently for his opponent to return to the ring.
Khan tries to climb back in. Unable to get leverage with his wounded leg, he lifts his left leg onto the apron and slowly pulls himself up with the ropes. André gives him the time to stand up against the turnbuckle, then attacks, chopping and grabbling hold of Khan’s braid and pulling him out into the ring. He slams Khan with a gutwrench suplex, then grabs hold of his left ankle and drags him to the center of the ring. Khan squirms out. André spits into his hands, reaches down, and hammers at Khan’s forehead. Khan no-sells a boot between his shoulder, prompting André to reach down and lift him up and over with a vertical suplex.
The Giant takes Khan’s left ankle and pulls it out wide and drops an elbow. Khan pleads for leniency, but André takes hold again and rises into an anklelock. He twists Killer’s boot hard as Khan writhes in agony. He flips Khan onto his belly, ties up his legs, and drops his weight onto his back.
With Khan’s ankles locked, André leans down onto them and claps Killer’s ears. He holds the ankles together with a knee and, taking Khan’s wrists, surfboards
André puts down Khan.
him backward. Khan wants to submit, but the ref scurries away after André shakes his head.
André flips Khan over, still crossing his ankles, and leans in with a headbutt. Khan escapes to the corner and chops at André. A clap causes the Giant to fall back on the ropes. Limping, Khan claps André’s ears a second. Reeling, André hits the canvas. Killer drops a fist to André’s recently healed ankle, and then works his other leg against the rope. André takes his free leg and crashes it down on Khan’s head to the crowd’s delight, but can’t rise in time to prevent Khan from continuing to work the ankle. Khan locks hold, and André gets his other boot onto Killer’s chest and pushes him across the ring. Khan quickly comes back and locks onto André’s ankle once more, flipping him over and pus
hing down hard.
At last, André kicks Khan away and gets to his feet. Khan comes toward him and takes a big boot to the face, a chop, and a headbutt. Limping, André whips Khan from corner to corner, then headbutts him face-first onto the top rope. He pulls the second rope up and over Khan’s neck and chokes, pulling the ropes—and Khan’s head—back and forth. The ref approaches and André swats him away and out of the ring. He continues bouncing the ropes, as SD Jones, Rick Martel, and Tony Garea come into the ring to convince him to stop the carnage. The bell sounds at 12:24, with both wrestlers disqualified.
André shoves the babyfaces away and squeezes away at the now unconscious Khan. Finally, Martel, Garea, and an official pull André off, freeing Khan from the ropes. André rushes back toward him and gets one last boot in before Khan rolls out to the concrete. André rages in the ring awhile, then raises his fist in triumph.
André and Khan wrestled up and down the eastern seaboard, drawing packed houses everywhere through the summer and fall. Killer Khan discussed André with writer Keith David Greenberg in Freddie Blassie’s memoir, Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks, explaining the Giant’s preference for working tight—that is, applying holds and blows with legitimate force to create realism and intensity in the ring.
“We hit each other with very hard chops,” Khan recalled. “If I went loose on André, he’d get mad and give me a good hard one, and say, ‘Come on! What are you doing? Let’s go!’”
The Mongolian Giant also detailed one of André’s deadliest moves, one that saw him taking full advantage of his disproportionate physiology.
“I was lying on the mat,” Khan said, “flat out, straight up, looking at the ceiling. And here comes André with this humongous ass, and he just sat on my face. At that moment, I actually thought I was going to die.”
The program continued though the end of the year, though its true culmination came in November’s now-classic Mongolian Stretcher match at Philadelphia’s Spectrum. The rules were simple: the object of the match was to incapacitate the other wrestler to such a degree that he could be placed on the stretcher and taken out of the ring.
November 14, 1981: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
ANDRÉ VS. KILLER KHAN
André powers Khan into the corner to start, and hits a headbutt that leads Khan to run out to the apron. André grabs his head and pulls him back over the ropes. A smiling chop is followed by a kneelift, and Khan rolls across the ring to the outside. André reaches through the ropes and grabs Killer’s hairlock. Taking Khan by the wrist, he pulls him up and in, and then whips him into a big boot. Killer goes down, so André stands over him before dropping onto him with his leg and his butt, perhaps not sure which one to go with so early in the match. André gets up and tells the ref to bring in the stretcher. The ref and a ring official try to roll Khan onto the stretcher, but he’s having none of it.
On his knees, Khan lunges for André’s ankle, but the Giant catches him. Khan gets to his feet, his head between André’s legs. André takes the back of Khan’s tights, lifts him up, and drops for a sit-down piledriver. He tries to finish it with a falling headbutt, but Khan rolls away and André hits the canvas. Both wrestlers stay down and sell, with Khan the first to rise. Shrieking like a Mongolian maniac, he puts the boots to André’s head, then takes the formerly injured ankle and ties it between the bottom ropes. André howls in pain as Khan kicks at the recently healed joint. He makes wild barking noises with each kick, until the ref intercedes and tries to free André.
“C’mon, get away from there,” the official says, but Khan pushes him away and continues to work on the ankle. “C’mon, get off that foot!”
Khan keeps at it, kicking away. “C’mon, Khan, step back from there.”
Reaching over the top rope, Khan takes the ankle and pulls it upward. André reaches for Khan’s tights and yanks him to the canvas. As Khan adjusts his trunks, the ref begins to loose André’s leg. Screeching, Khan drops a knee to André’s head. Unfortunately, the ref cannot untie André, so Khan goes to the second rope. He slips and lands on his feet, then tries to cover by dropping another knee. He calls for the stretcher, which looks tiny next to André’s supine figure. Khan, the ref, and the ring official try to roll André onto the stretcher, but cannot budge the Giant. The official attempts to untie André but says, “I can’t get his foot out!” With the ref’s help, André is at last freed.
Khan pushes André toward the stretcher, but he rolls over it and gets up, taking the stretcher with him. He swings it at Khan, barely hitting the Killer’s head and shoulders. Khan, however, sinks into the corner as if he’d been concussed. André cuffs the side of his head, and then grabs hold of an ear. A big headbutt puts Khan down, but when the official places the stretcher onto the apron, André kicks it away.
The ref tries to explain the rules to André, who prefers to suplex Khan. André favors his left leg as the ref fetches the stretcher. With the official, they manage to get Khan onto the stretcher, but he pushes them away before they can pick him up.
Khan kicks out at André’s ankle, but only catches air. Grinning ear to ear, André stalks his Mongolian prey, who tries and fails once again to kick the Giant’s ankle. André reaches down, takes Khan’s ankle, twists, and drops onto it as the Killer screams. Khan tries to beg off, but André repeats the maneuver, twisting the ankle a bit further before falling onto it. André takes both of Khan’s ankles, crosses them, and then drops his chest onto them. Khan sits up and tends to his ankles, so André kicks him in the face. He takes Khan’s ankles under his arms, then falls back, with Khan’s neck under the ropes.
André gets revenge
on Killer Khan.
The ref breaks the hold and, as André gets up, fetches the stretcher. André tosses it over the ropes, preferring to continue his assault. The ref argues, the official puts the stretcher back in, but André kicks it out. Four sit-down splashes lead to the stretcher’s return. The officials try to get Khan onto it, but he holds on to the bottom rope. André pushes the official out of the way and hits a series of rapid-fire buttdrops, crushing Khan. The stretcher returns, only this time, Khan grabs the apron. Still, they get him on it and try to pull him out under the ropes. But Khan holds on, and the officials yank the stretcher out from under him.
André puts Khan in the corner for a huge chop, and then takes him down with a headlock suplex. A big buttdrop and splash finish Khan off. The stretcher is brought in, and Khan is rolled onto it. Prone, he is removed from the ring at 9:57. A squad of red-jacketed Spectrum employees carry the Mongolian Giant away as the ref raises André’s arm in victory.
Apart from the rivalry with Khan, André spent much of his time that year wrestling in Japan. His increased weight and overall lack of conditioning manifested in a notable decrease in André’s in-ring mobility. Fortunately, he maintained his stamina and psychology.
In Japan, André largely worked as a monster heel. Among his greatest feuds were with Junior Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami. The two worked a classic Little/Big match, with the smaller Fujinami—less than 200 pounds—getting in a series of offensive moves before being caught and squashed by André. On December 10, 1981, André & Rene Goulet defeated Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami to win New Japan’s Second Annual MSG Tag League Tournament. André pinned Fujinami at 8:05. The previous year, André & the Hangman came in third behind Hulk Hogan & Stan Hansen and winners Inoki & Bob Backlund.
André worked regularly with Hansen, both as opponent as well as tag team partner. Their hard-edged, fast-paced matches together were among André’s most brutal and dramatic. The Giant’s respect and comfort level in working with the notoriously tough Texan saw him allowing a rare body-slam in a classic New Japan Pro Wrestling showdown.
STAN HANSEN: “I guess André was only slammed a couple times, and that was one of them. That just goes to show what André thought of our matches. I owe a lot of my success in Japan to the fact that André and I had our matches. He got me over in Japan and I
owe him that for sure.
“André was a smart enough businessman to know that even though he was ‘the Seventh Wonder of the World,’ or whatever they called him, in order for him to continue to do great business and enhance his status, he needed somebody to wrestle him. With me, he found an opponent that he could go out and have a lot of different style matches that the Japanese couldn’t have with him, for whatever the reasons. I think he realized that here was an opponent that maybe could make these matches something that’s gonna stand out.
“We both took each other out of our norm. I think he found in me somebody that would fight him. He found in me an opponent that people wanted to see in real matches, not just the typical André-the-strong-man type of match.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say they dreaded working with him because there wasn’t a lot they could do. André would just dominate. But for some reason, he took a liking to me and enjoyed my style. Without his wanting to go and have a great match, it would’ve never happened. So for whatever the reasons, André and I, we had some good matches.”
At home in America, André v. Killer Khan proved a milestone, in terms of its box office success as well as its popularity with fans. Nineteen eighty-one ended with the bouts named “Feud of the Year” by Wrestling Observer; the Mongolian Stretcher match at the Spectrum was declared “Match of the Year” by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
André the Giant was, without doubt, the top wrestling Superstar of his generation, beloved and feared by millions around the world. The wrestling business would undergo a seismic shift in the months to come, and André’s star power would greatly contribute to the extraordinary changes.
Andre the Giant Page 5